SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — The Kentucky Derby winner is here. So is the Preakness winner. Yet neither is favored in the Belmont Stakes, which will be held today for the first time in its 156-year history at Saratoga Race Course. While Mystik Dan (5-1 morning line) and Seize the Grey (8-1) — the Derby and Preakness winners, respectively — both loom large in the third leg of the Triple Crown, it is Derby runner-up Sierra Leone who was made the 9-5 favorite on the morning line.
The $2 million Belmont is slotted as race 12 with a 6:41 p.m. post time on a loaded 14-race card today at Saratoga. Traditionally contested at 1½ miles, this year’s (and next) Belmont will be run at 1¼ miles at the Spa while Belmont Park undergoes a major revitalization project.
Trained by 45-year-old Mechanicville native and four-time Eclipse Award winner Chad Brown, Sierra Leone will be ridden today from post 9 by Flavien Prat, who takes over for Tyler Gaffalione. Sierra Leone was battling in the Derby stretch with Forever Young and Mystik Dan when he lugged in and traded bumps with the Japanese invader while Mystik Dan was able to win the photo with a rail-skimming ride by jockey Brian Hernandez. Brown is confident his horse is ready to run a big race today and make this year’s Triple Crown series a three-way split.
“He’s been doing great, bounced out of that Derby which can obviously be a tough race on horses, and he’s bounced out well,” Brown said. “He shipped up great and he’s training really good here, just hoping for a good trip. Obviously, we have half as many horses to run down so that should hopefully be a little easier on him. I just hope he runs the same race as in the Derby.
“We made a little bit of a change with his bit just to try and give the jockey a little bit more steering and he’s drawn outside in this race versus the Derby, so hopefully Flavien can survey the inside and just pick his spot where he wants to be in the first turn and just be prepared for him, a couple of his races he’s leaned in a bit and he cost himself in his two losses and his three victories he hasn’t done it as much. So as long as you are prepared for him and he runs straight, he should run big.”
Brown has won the Preakness twice and is searching for his first Belmont victory. The trainer hopes he has some homecourt advantage in the Belmont.
“To win the first Belmont at Saratoga, not far away from where I grew up, it would be a real special moment for me and my family and team,” Brown said. “We have a base of operations here and we always focus on the Saratoga meet. Potentially it would be a great moment, but it will be a challenging race. There are some good horses in this race. Yet It will be very special to get our first Belmont win in Saratoga, given all the time we spend here.”
Kenny McPeek, Mystik Dan’s trainer, said the Derby winner is in fine form following a second-place effort behind Seize the Grey three weeks ago in the Preakness at Pimlico Race Course.
“He is a very consistent horse. I think that is the biggest deal. We’ve kind of been a little careful with the spacing of these races nowadays,” McPeek said. “And I have been worried about it, you know making sure he’s right, but he’s been very consistent all the way from the Arkansas Derby through today. Once again, we are hopeful that he runs a big race and you’ve got to compete in these kind of races to prove yourself. There’s some great horses in here and it is going to be interesting.”
Mystik Dan will break from post 3 and again be ridden by Hernandez.
Seize the Grey (post 1, Jaime Torres), trained by 88-year-old Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas, won the Preakness following a sharp score in the Pat Day Mile at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby day. He will likely need to show early speed along the rail in the Belmont. Lukas is excited about his horse’s opportunity to take the lead in the 3-year-old male division.
“I think that’s the plus to the whole race,” said Lukas, who has won 15 career Triple Crown races. “I think that’s what makes it interesting. We weren’t in the Derby but we ran on Derby day. It’s a scenario where he (Mystik Dan) won one, we won one and now we’re going to find out, at a mile and a quarter, who’s going to be at least the leader going into the fall.”
Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher sends a trio of contenders searching for his fifth Belmont win. Mindframe (post 10, 7-2, Irad Ortiz, Jr.), Antiquarian (post 5, 12-1, John Velazquez), and Protective (post 7, 20-1, Gaffalione) all drew well according to Pletcher.
“I didn’t see any major draw impact,” Pletcher said. “I mean, it’s good for Mindframe that he drew outside — he doesn’t have that much experience (making his third lifetime start) and it will give Irad the opportunity to work out a trip around there. I was happy with all the posts.”
Unbeaten in two impressive starts, Mindframe is loaded with talent but lacks experience.
“The horse trained really, really well before his debut and then goes out and wins by 13 and three-quarter lengths, a really fast time,” Pletcher said. “He comes back in an allowance race and handled that pretty easily. With his two races and all we’ve seen from him in the morning … it’s a lot to ask, but we wouldn’t ask him if we didn’t think he was talented enough.”
Pletcher said Antiquarian has “been doing great since the Peter Pan, and the Peter Pan was a breakthrough performance that we thought he had in him. Hopefully, again he can make another move forward.”
On Protective, a maiden who was third in both the Wood Memorial and Peter Pan, Pletcher said, “He needs to continue to move forward, but I think he’ll appreciate the added distance and this opportunity at a mile and a quarter. He shows up and tries hard every time. I think he can get a piece.”
Danny Gargan, trainer of Dornoch (post 6, 15-1, Luis Saez) is hoping his colt can bounce back after finishing 10th in the Derby. Gargan had hoped for a different post than where Dornoch drew.
“I wanted to be more outside. Hopefully, we break good and can lay on the outside and get a nice clean trip,” Gagan said. “(Seize the Grey) will probably be on the lead. Mystik Dan breaks fast — he outbroke us in the Derby and came over on us. He’s inside us and I’m happy about that. Other than that, it just depends what Todd does with Mindframe. We’ll break running and hopefully stalk or sit right there.
“He never got to run in the Derby much. He’s worked tremendous (at Saratoga). He’s training great. Sierra Leone shows up every time. If he shows up we’re all in trouble unless he does something to get himself beat. I’m one of the few that has beat him — there’s two of us in the race that have beat him (along with Mystik Dan) and if we could run our race and beat him one more time this would be a great time to do it.”
Rounding out the field is Resilience for trainer Bill Mott (post 2, 10-1, Junior Alvarado), the Mike Maker trainee The Wine Steward (post 4, 15-1, Manny Franco), and Honor Marie for Whit Beckman (post 8, 12-1, Florent Geroux).
